My new jewelry class started today. I have big dreams. Dreams so big that last week I was debating if I should even take this class or just dive in to designing my own line straight away.
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| first ring from wax, circa 2008 |
Background - I’ve taken a variety of jewelry classes since I was in high school and always liked, but didn’t necessarily love, the sawing, sanding, soldering process. Several years ago I signed up for another class with a private studio in Brooklyn. The structure of this program was extremely loosey-goosey which suited me really well, given my hectic work schedule. I also found the “anything goes” attitude to be very nurturing to my intuitive ways. I loved that I could start a piece with one idea and have it come out completely different than I expected – with no one hovering over my shoulder chiding me for changing gears on a whim. The first project was to make a ring out of wax, which would then be cast in metal (silver or gold). My initial efforts were tentative, but quickly I was hooked. I would stay up late at night filing and melting (cigarette lighter as torch) wax into wild shapes – later bringing the wax shapes to a caster in the diamond district. The caster makes a mold and pours molten metal into it – in a day or two mold and cast are ready to be picked up. There is some minimal finishing work required (filing off the sprue and polishing) but I found the medium to be extremely accessible and appealing to me (as I seem to be repeating). Once you have the mold, you can make endless copies. Again, pretty cool. Over time, I became fairly confident and even cast some pieces in 18k gold, many of which I am proud to wear.
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| a favorite cigarette lighter ring |
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| humble new beginnings |
My current class is devoted exclusively to working in wax. Right off, the teacher describes her approach as “mechanical”. Her example of something “organic” is a meticulously rendered leaf. My cigarette lighter technique is definitely not in the curriculum. Many thoughts went through my head as she described the first project. We will be making a little puffed half heart that is hollow. It is to be perfectly symmetrical. My butt is going to get kicked by this wee heart. I won’t elaborate on all of the thoughts that I had. I had two productive thoughts:
1. This will make a really nice charm for my dear daughter, thief of my heart, and she won't care if it's not 100% perfect.
2. I hope that by the end of this class if I do not go on to make a career of meticulously rendering symmetrical objects in wax, it will be out of choice, not lack of ability.
Exhale.
In other news, after bashing the weather this morning, I was pleasantly surprised by the almost mild conditions outside. The tip of my nose was cold, for sure, but I got by with a thick sweater and raincoat and wasn't miserable. I think the rodent gurus were right on the money! After class (which is on the Upper East Side), I walked down Madison Avenue. It’s really like a different city up and over there. They practically speak a different dialect. I love this about New York.
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| gorgeous flowers on the upper east |
I came home to a fed, bathed and happy baby girl who went to sleep without a fight. Dinner for me was leftover chicken and fish sticks, with a side of (cold) sautéed sweet potatoes. On this note, I am excited to try some recipes on "Prep Ahead and Dine In" soon. This is a recipe blog geared toward busy families who want to kick the take-out habit without sacrificing quality (genius) written by an old friend from middle school (oh, Facebook). Her family is adorable and the recipes look super yummy!
My dear R is still flipping burgers out of town. I'm looking forward to his return and, hopefully with it, some greater accountability on the chow front.
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| a year ago |
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